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Match preview – Bees v Newport (Salop)

Match preview – Bees v Newport (Salop)

Richard Smith9 Oct 2015 - 07:46
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Bees look to continue winning run against Newport (Salop)

Birmingham & Solihull welcome Newport (Salop) to Portway tomorrow (Saturday 10th October, Kick off 3pm) looking to make it three wins in a row.

Wins on the road against Longton last week and at home to Lichfield the week before have helped to alleviate early season disappointments and Ian Matthews’ side will be looking to continue this new-found vein of form against their visitors from Shropshire.

“Last weekend was a hard fought win against dogged and committed opposition said the Bees’ Head of Rugby. “Winning ugly is a great habit to develop and I expect to see the same spirit, guts and desire as we move forward this season. The energy and drive in the squad is building nicely and the players have been working hard in training to raise the level of performance for today’s game with Newport.”

“Lee and I have been able to name a strong squad for this game. With Steve Leach and Martin Hooker unavailable, we have given debuts to Ollie Blundell - who has been impressing in training and in the development XV at scrum half, and to the newest member of our squad -Robi Deli.”

“Robi will be on the bench and will bring his years of experience as Hungarian national team captain to the back 5 of the scrum. The performance team are excited about his potential impact on the team and on this game. The First XV is now showing signs of solidity and consistency and this is reflected in our selection this week.”

With the starting pack unchanged from last weekend, the only other change sees Jimmy Oliver moving to the centre to accommodate the return from injury of winger Nyle Beckett.

Like the Bees, Newport (Salop) come into Saturday’s game with two wins out of five from their league campaign so far. Relative form is hard to judge, as all five games have been against opposition that the Bees have yet to face.

Newport marked their return to National 3 Midlands with a resounding 36-3 win at home against Old Northamptonians and were also successful at their Forton Road ground against Sandbach, winning 35-14. Their three defeats have been away at Peterborough Lions (22-9), Scunthorpe (35-24) and under the Friday night lights at home to Sutton Coldfield (12-31) last weekend.

Birmingham & Solihull team selected v Newport (Salop) Saturday 10th October 3pm KO:-

Ian Briggs, Alex O’Malley, Wayne Child, Jimmy Oliver, Nyle Beckett, Jack Jolly, Ollie Blundell, Darren Forder, Ashley Scriven, Rob Gregg, Chris Goddard©, Matt Spink, Nick Bingham, Mike Singleton and Pete Koziot. Replacements – Dan Toth, Robi Deli and Mikey Whettal.

The Development side entertain also welcome Newport 2nds to Portway on Saturday (KO 3pm).

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